New York Rangers: Don’t derail the rebuild

With free agent frenzy just a few weeks away,  the New York Rangers are believed to be frontrunners in the Artemi Panarin sweepstakes.  If they don’t get him and stand pat, how bad would that be?

The New York Rangers rebuild got a shot in the arm when the team won the second pick in the entry draft lottery. With the addition of stud forward Kaapo Kakko (or Jack Hughes) the window for playoff contention got a lot closer.  Is it too soon?

Why next year?

There are many reasons to believe that the Rangers are on the verge of making the post-season once again. With a  young, skilled core, all it will take is to throw some big money at stud free agents.

With visions of a top six consisting of Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider, Kaapo Kakko, Pavel Buchnevich, Vitali Kravtsov and Artemi Panarin and a defense corps bolstered by Adam Fox and a healthy LIbor Hajek, the “We want the cup” chant could be heard at Madison Square Garden as soon as next May.

With the St. Louis Blues and Carolina Hurricanes as role models, the Rangers go all out.  Even if they lose out on Panarin, they can throw money at a devalued Erik Karlsson and add the fragile top defensemen to a skilled blueline corps.

Memories of Eddie Giacomin and Gilles Villemure are renewed with the tandem of  Henrik Lundqvist and Alexandar Georgiev.  Lundqvist thrives under a reduced workload and the pair are among the top in the NHL.

They extend Chris Kreider with a long-term contract. Rather than divesting the team of impending free agents they keep  Jimmy Vesey, Vlad Namestnikov and Jesper Fast, thus retainng their core of veterans to guide the youngsters.

The result?   The Rangers make the playoffs and are ousted in the second round.

The cost is salary cap hell as the team finds itself dangerously close to the maximum. They lose their trio of UFA’s who sign elsewhere with no return for the Blueshirts.    Locked into long-term contracts with aging players, the team is forced to expose a top prospect in the Seattle expansion draft in 2021.

Why it will happen

Sports fans forget the financial implications of missing the playoffs.  For ownership, the playoffs are gravy.  The possibility of adding the revenue from two to 16 home playoffs games is worth millions.  At a conservative $200 per seat each playoff game is work $3.5 million in additional revenue.

Look at this season. The Carolina Hurricanes generated $200k in merchandise revenue alone for each home game. It’s in the best interests of management to get into the postseason, even if it is just for one series.

At a minimum the playoffs are worth $7.5 million for one series.  If they go deep we’re talking tens of millions. For that reason alone, the Rangers will do everything in their power to make the playoffs next year.

There is another overriding reason why it makes sense for the team to go all out.  As much as John Davidson, Jeff Gorton and David Quinn talk about remaining faithful to the process of rebuilding they are still running a team in New York City and that demands success.  Taking shortcuts to get there is only natural.  No matter what they say, signing Artemi Panarin or Erik Karlsson is a shortcut and it only takes money.

The temptation is great, but there are reasons why waiting is a much better idea.